Officials investigate $1,000 doorbell, other expenses

OTTAWA — Canadian officials are preparing for an independent audit of a maintenance contract after it was revealed the government paid exorbitant amounts like $1,000 for a doorbell installation and almost $2,000 for plants, according to the Toronto Sun.

According to the story, the controversy began this week after reports of what some consider unusually high cleaning and maintenance costs for a Public Works department building, cleaned by SNC-Lavalin Group.

Public Works Minister Rona Ambrose said: "Like all Canadians, we find these expenses extravagant. I asked my deputy minister to review these expenses to ensure that taxpayers got value for money. An independent third party will be named to carry out that task."

SNC-Lavalin welcomes the audit, and says that the costs are comparable to those of other standard service providers, and that their company has saved the government $50 million a year and reduced building energy costs, the story stated.

Leslie Quinton, vice-president global corporate communications for SNC-Lavalin Group, said: "We go through over 500 audits a year for this one contract and are completely at ease in sharing this information since we believe in total transparency and good governance."